166 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 
tures similar to that of the Mexican highlands. Human 
sacrifice is prominently figured in the sculptures. 
There are also scrolls which issue from the mouths and 
stand for speech. Divinities are sometimes shown at 
the tops of the sculptured slabs in the mouths of rep- 
tiles and to these divinities the priests standing below 
make offerings. 
A peculiar type of pottery centered in southern Guate- 
mala and western Salvador from which region it was 
distributed far and wide by trade. Although a few 
examples of this ware are found at Copan it is clear from 
the designs that most of the pieces belong to a time 
subsequent to the abandonment of this Mayan city. 
The ware has a semi-glaze which is the result of lead 
in the clay. Because paint could not be applied to this 
ware, esthetic idea of shape was allowed to develop 
itself without hindrance. 
The Chorotegan Culture. Passing south from 
the Mayan area we find in Salvador and Central Honduras 
archeological objects that can hardly be distinguished 
from the classical products of Copan. Still farther 
south remains are found of a rich and in many ways 
peculiar art—consisting almost entirely of pottery and 
minor stone carvings—that centers about the southern 
end of Lake Nicaragua and the Gulf of Nicoya. It 
may be ascribed principally to tribes speaking the 
Chiapanecan language and it may be fittingly called 
Chorotegan after one of the principal tribes. 
Close analysis shows that many of the decorative 
motives in Chorotegan art were developed from those 
of the Mayas. The serpent and the monkey furnish 
the majority of the designs that are surely Mayan but 
each of these is carried so far away from the original 
that only an expert can see the connections. The arms 
